12/27/10

Have you noticed the doilies everywhere? They are in crafting items, home decor, pillows...you name it; and you know me, I didn't want to be left out so I purchased a package at Michael's. I could not wait to use them - but I have to admit, I've had them a couple of weeks - anyone else do that? Buy it and then not use it right away?

Anyway, I pulled out this piece of pre-scored Sweet Blush card stock and realized it isn't an A2 size - it's actually 3.5" x 5.5", great, fun size. I scored the left-hand side about 1/4" in and glued it shut. Then I added the embossed dots only to the edge of where the card opens. I love this look; just hard to photograph!

I edged the doily with PTI's Tea Dye ink then stamped the center with this decorative circle from PTI's Simply Stationery. I could not decide what to put in the middle, I tried several different things but while digging through my stash I came across these beautiful Prima roses. I've never used them b/c they aren't something you could mail - unless you were including the card within a package you were mailing or physically giving the card to someone. (too bad I tend to shy away from bulk b/c of these reasons).

Anyway, a simple, yet delicate card!

Hope your Christmas was wonderful. And before I go, don't forget Kerry is having a great sale at Ladybug Crafts Ink through the remainder of December - don't miss out!

12/22/10

A sweet friend asked for a graduation card for one of her former students; I used Mercy's Sketch (HERE) for the layout and some MME designer paper (I'm working really hard to use the paper I have - yeah me!!).

I really liked this layout; I sponged everything with PTI's Dark Chocolate and hand cut the Hawaiian Shores border for the focal panel, 1st time I've hand cut a layered piece like this; thought it turned out pretty good for a girl that can't draw a straight line, glue anything straight, etc. :D
The two sentiments on the outside are from PTI's Scattered Showers; the inside is from Verve Visual's Great Expectations (wishing you success beyond your wildest expectations). The papers are PTI's Hibiscus Burst and Hawaiian Shores; such a fun, cheery combo celebrating a very fun and cheery event!

Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas! Thanks for popping in; I love when you visit! Hugs, ~M.

12/20/10

I'm telling you, these Lovely Ladybug's come up with some AMAZING challenges! This week it is a song title - seriously, how cool is that? Chosen by none other than the Ultra Talented Tams (who loves pink...REALLY)!!

You can see all the creations at our Challenge Blog (HERE) AND we hope you'll join us as there are always delightful prizes to be won - and this time you have TWO FULL WEEKS to join our challenge!

So...I googled songs to see what stamps I had that would match songs, man, that made this challenge a snap! I chose the song "Me and You and a Dog Named Boo" by Lobo.

I know many of you believe this dog to be named "Buttercup", but today, it's called Boo! :D

I used Karen's Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge #97 for my layout (love the long card; different and unusual). Some left over MME paper, sponging, wonderful felt and that about sums it up!!

I used some super fun Basic Grey DP and made a flip card - no fold in the middle! My ribbon was red and white, but I changed it to red and beige to better match the paper colors. I stamped "Happy New Year" 2nd generation in Pumice Stone Distress Ink and PTI's Pure Poppy on the notebook paper cut with PTI's die - very similar to THIS card (love how it turned out then...and now).

I stamped the Champagne Bottles directly onto the notebook cut paper, then stamped the bottles a 2nd time, colored and adhered over the original 2 bottles. Such a great, image!

All the edges were distressed and inked DTP with Scattered Straw Distress Ink. Love the aged/weathered look.

12/14/10

Oh, I so *heart* this sketch (HERE) from Wendy!!! I think it's one of my all-time favorites even though I "accidentally" flipped it the wrong direction - HA! I cut my paper the wrong way (width/length reversed), does ANYONE else do that EVER??? You can always flip a sketch but I didn't want to flip it!

Anyway, I wanted to use the paper, so I rolled with it! The DP as well as the die cut the image is stamped on is from My Mind's Eye Ohh La La for Her paper - LOVE IT; so glad I still have some left! :D

I colored the main image with Copics and added some some white gel to it. I love this little Garden Fairy - so, so cute!

Hope you'll join us this week using the sketch and your chance to win $25 from Repeat Impressions! And while you are at it, be sure to check out what the other Rock Stars have created:

12/13/10

It's TLT day and this time we're celebrating "Winter Wonderland" as chosen by Jovita, our Guest Designer!

Don't forget, each Design Team member is giving away Blog Candy to one random person - leave some love along the way for your chance to win! AND don't forget to join our Winter Wonderland challenge for a 2nd chance to win. Here's a picture of my blog candy:

If you DO NOT have a blog, don't worry, you can still enter by e-mailing your Winter Wonderland entry to: lcichallengeblog@aol.com.

And the last bit of housekeeping is my question for the blog hop:

"It's snowing, let's go outside and make Snow _______!" Now remember, you need the first letter of each answer to form a Christmas word - once you have that word, e-mail it to: lcichallengeblog@aol.com.

OK, now on to my creation for my Secret Pal. Each year I sign up to have a secret pal our our elementary school; my secret pal requested Double Bubble gum which she gives to the children for completing various reading assignments, so I made her a fun little Winter Wonderland Bubblegum Holder. :D

I hope she likes it! I used Nikki &; Buttercup Snow Angels (minus Buttercup - umm....DON'T TELL MY BOSS I omitted Buttercup) - always a GREAT Winter Wonderland image! I colored the image with Copics &; used Fluffy Stuff for the snow. I have to say, my sweet, dear hubby helped me cover the Stampendous Plastic Pail - he's great at precision and detail and getting the "perfect" fit around those handles!

Thanks for hopping along with us today; hope you enjoy the eye candy and don't forget to leave a comment for a chance to win my Blog Candy!

12/9/10

Another fabulous sketch this week by Julee (MOJO168) - she has some of the BEST sketches! I also received some new stamps this week and HAD to get them inky!

I went for a vintage look - how did I do? I love the look of vintage, but I'm not very good at actually "doing" it!

I stamped the text background (If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day, so I never have to live without you. -Winnie the Pooh) from Text Objects repeatedly on Basic Grey's manila lined paper. I also stamped the dashed and solid line in pink - REALLY hard to see, but if you look close, you can see it in the close up picture. Ah...pure love! I then used the smaller sized heart from the same stamp set and stamped it 3rd generation randomly on the paper. I distressed all the edges and sponged them with VersaMagic Jumbo Java.

The main sentiment is from another Verve Stamp Set from the olden days - Beautiful You (very unique set, first year commemorative set by the design team); anyway, it was just the perfect finishing touch!

I added a PTI Sweet Blush button tied off with Chocolate Baker's twine that is usually chocolate and white, but I changed the white to tan using my Copics. :D

Added a strip of crocheted pink ribbon, 5 blush pearls and that's a wrap. BTW, I love how this turned out; I think I know the perfect person to give this card to on Valentine's Day!

12/8/10

Our youngest daughter attended several birthday parties this last weekend; one of the girls is a very, very dear friend so I wanted to make an extra special card for you. I used the same layout as I did for THIS card - love the layout!

You know, my great plans of keeping it super simple just didn't come true! I added some fun/funky stitching, lots of sponging and LOTS of layers. LOL

This is a flip card meaning it doesn't open, you just flip it over and write your message. The image is Verve Visual's Cupcake Affair. I added www.vervevisual.comAdirondack Dimensional Pearls in Espresso - LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the way it looks like real icing!

I also added Glossy Accents to each flower. I also snapped a picture showing the Copics used to color the image. Loved the way this turned out; hope the birthday girl did too.
Meanwhile this week our son had his Christmas Program, "Who Stole the Meaning of Christmas"; all kids were dressed in black & white and Jared was "Santa". Here's a few pictures I snapped of him before the program; too much activity to get a good picture during the program, but he did a GREAT job!

I made a very CAS (clean & simple) card using a bit of designer paper, 1 "colored" card stock and white card stock. I trimmed the ribbon from the designer paper also. Those pearls on the wreath and the side of the card? They were WHITE until I colored them with my Copics - love how you can change the color of ribbon, pearls, gems, etc. with your Copics.Let's see what the other Rock Stars have created this week; I promise it will be amazing! AND you can join us too; just CASE this card and enter at The House That Stamps Built!

12/6/10

Another amazing challenge at the TLT Challenge Blog; this one issued by Gaelle. She challenged us to use pearls - YUMMY; love me some pearls! And you see, my card has a "story"...there are some pearls but did you see that "ROCK" on Nikki's left finger? Yeah, she's gotten engaged and is all chatty about it - she's talking to her BFF planning her wedding I just know it! Um...this image is called "Chatty Nikki"...see, it really does tell a story!

LOL

The design team has done an amazing job, so be sure to check out their cards too AND you'll definitely want to join the challenge for your chance to win a LCI stamp!

And that's not all the fun we have in store for you! Kerry is having a FLABULOUS (yes, it's a word when talking about Ladybug Crafts Ink) sale for the month of December...and we're having a blog hop next week - December 14th. You know what that means, right? LOTS of flabby prizes!

12/5/10

Ah...nope, we're not stamping Aruba, but we are stamping a Divi Divi Tree which is found in Aruba! Are these trees not just the coolest in shape? You can read a bit about them HERE - I'll admit, I had no clue so I found this information interesting! And to see a few pictures from where I drew my inspriation, click HERE.

I could attend a brayering class taught by Michelle Zindorf and STILL never be able to brayer as she does - but I gave it my best shot using several different Distress Inks - Antique Linen, Scattered Straw, Tumbled Glass, and Stormy Sky - I literally just used the edge of the ink pad for the Stormy Sky. I LOVE the soft, muted colors...and Wendy, I.WANT.TO.GO.TO.ARUBA! :-)